The Concept of Tyranny and Religious Tyranny in the Treatise of "Tanbih al-Ummah" and its Relationship with the Rule of the Jurists

Mirza Na'ini has used the words "tyranny" and "religious tyranny" in several cases in his important treatise Tanbih al-Ummah. Looking for his point of view, some commentators of his book have somehow adapted the meaning of these two words to the political rule of the jurists. Using a historical approach and analytical method, this article critically examines this interpretation. The results indicate that the general and main meaning of the word "tyranny" is independence and monopoly. Since independence and monopoly are considered in relation to something, the specific meaning of tyranny has been numerous and floating. It seems that the word "tyranny" from the point of view of Na'ini means "oppression of the inferior", as in his view "religious tyranny" means "the authority of corrupt and worldly religious scholars". Accordingly, the governance of a qualified jurist in which justice is one of his necessary and main conditions is very different from these two concepts. On the other hand, the term "absoluteness" in the theory of "Absolute Guardianship of the Jurist" refers to the extent of the authority of the ruling jurisprudent within the framework of the Shari'a to ensure the interests of the people as well as the precedence of the more important sentence over the important ones in case of conflict. As a result, this term is fundamentally different from the concept that Na'ini intended from the two terms "tyranny" and "religious tyranny."